Gigabyte X58 USB3 mainboard review

by Tarinder Sandhu on 30 August 2010, 07:00 4.0

Tags: Gigabyte X58 USB3, Gigabyte (TPE:2376)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qazsb

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How we test

Comparison systems

Motherboard Gigabyte GA-X58-USB3 (£137.67*) ASUS P6X58D-E  (£144.72*)
Motherboard BIOS F2a
0303
Processor Intel Core i7 970 (3.20GHz, 12MB L3 cache, six-core) Intel Core i7 970 (3.20GHz, 12MB L3 cache, six-core)
Memory Corsair 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 Corsair 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3
Memory timings 10-9-9-24-1T @ 1,600MHz (XMP) 9-9-9-24-1T @ 1,600MHz
Graphics ATI Radeon HD 5850 ATI Radeon HD 5850
Graphics driver Catalyst 10.6 Catalyst 10.6
Chipset driver Intel Inf 9.1.1.1025 and RST 9.6 Intel Inf 9.1.1.1025 and RST 9.6
Disk drive Corsair V128 SSD Corsair V128 SSD
Optical drive Generic 24x DVD-RW Generic 24x DVD-RW
Chassis Corsair Obsidian Series 700D Corsair Obsidian Series 700D
Power supply Corsair HX1000W Corsair HX1000W
Operating system Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

CPU and memory benchmarks

HEXUS.PiFast
Our number-crunching benchmark stresses a single core by calculating Pi to 10m places.
wPrime 2.0.3 A number-crunching benchmark that stresses all available CPU cores/threads.
CINEBENCH 11.5 Using Cinebench's multi-CPU render, this cross-platform benchmark stresses as many cores as possible.
Geekbench 2.1.6 A cross-platform benchmark used to measure memory and processor performance.

GPU benchmarks

Aliens vs. Predator DX11, 1,680x1,050, 2x AA 8x AF, very high quality
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 DX9, 1,680x1,050, 4xAA, ultra quality, FRAPS-recorded benchmark.

General benchmarks

Storage performance USB 2.0/3.0 read speed, SSD average read speed 
Power consumption To provide best- and worst-case scenarios, we record mains power draw when idle and whilst running wPrime
*price correct at the time of writing, August 30, 2010

Testing notes

We've given the X58 USB3 some healthy competition in the form of another sub-£150 X58 board, this time from ASUS with the P6X58D-E that currently retails for £144.72.